Heat plan to attack the Spurs inside

MIAMI – After contending with the long arms of Indiana center Roy Hibbert for seven games in the Eastern Conference finals, the Spurs are a welcome sight for the defending champion Heat.

That’s the way Miami reserve Shane Battier made it sound at Wednesday’s media day when asked to contrast Indiana’s defense with that of the Spurs. Both units ranked among the best in the NBA this season, with the Pacers first and the Spurs third in points per 100 possessions (Basketball Reference).

To Battier and the Heat, however, there’s a distinct difference.

“I think because the Spurs play small, we’ll have more opportunities to go inside,” he said. “Obviously they’ve gone bigger Splitter a whole lot this year.

“But they’ll go small a whole lot with Bonner, and when Duncan goes out they don’t have a whole lot of shot blocking. So I think there are opportunities to attack the rim a little bit more versus the last series.”

That might not be quite as easy as Miami thinks.

The Spurs ranked eight in points allowed in the paint and third in opposing field-goal percentage at the rim this season. They put those qualities to good use in sweeps of the Lakers and Memphis, both of which feature powerful inside attacks.

The Heat, however, generates their interior offense not via static post-ups but the slashing of LeBron James and Dwyane Wade. The duo ranked first and fifth, respectively in points in the paint per game with a combined total of nearly 25.

A nagging injury that has sapped some of Wade’s explosiveness will help the Spurs. But even with Tim Duncan’s resurgence as a shot blocker and Tiago Splitter’s solid positional defense, the Spurs can’t match the sheer physical presence provided by Hibbert.

Duncan, however, said the Spurs will be ready to contest anything the Heat throw at them.

“I think it will definitely be a different type (of series), and it will be more up?tempo, more wide open,” he said. “But the physicality will definitely be there.”